US top diplomat to boycott G20 summit in South Africa

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said he will not attend the G20 summit in Johannesburg, due to what he described as “anti-Americanism” by South African authorities.

The decision came against the backdrop of Trump threats to halt aid for South Africa which plans to implement land redistribution acts detrimental to the white minority.

Trump’s advisor, Elon Musk, has also complained of the “persecution” of whites in South Africa, reposting messages on X that show the surge in whites fleeing the country due to racial laws.

The foreign ministers of the G20 are meeting on February 20 and 21. It would have been Rubio’s first chance to meet some of his counterparts in person – including potentially Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphossa has recently signed a bill allowing the expropriation of land without financial compensation. The bill was meant to serve land redistribution and curb the control of the white minority over the country’s fertile farms.

White landowners possess three-quarters of South Africa’s freehold farmland, compared with 4% for black landowners. Black people make up about 80% of South Africa’s total population while about 8% are white.